Shadows of Lancaster County Read Online Free PDF Page A

that had been made when I knocked things over in an attempt to slow down my attacker.
    The detective in charge wore a neatly pressed suit, its smooth surfaces providing a stark contrast to his wrinkled and weatherworn face. He introduced himself as Detective Hernandez, and he seemed professional and compassionate as he questioned me. Jotting down notes on a small pad as we talked, he had me go through the scenario over and over, pausing each time to verify exactly what the intruder had said to me. When the detective asked me how to spell “Beauharnais,” I replied I had no idea.
    “B-o-r-n-a-y-s?” I suggested. “Really, I don’t know. I’ve never heard that term before.”
    He seemed to take me at my word, and for a brief moment I felt guilty for being less than honest in the beginning, when I had given him my fake name rather than the real one. But then I thought of other policemen in the past, ones who were far less compassionate, less trusting, and my heart hardened. This man had all the information he needed.
    As Detective Hernandez and I were talking, I glimpsed through the window a news van pulling up in front of the house, probably tipped off by one of the Screaming Eagles who wanted his heroic moment to make the twelve o’clock news. Seeing my expression, the detective turned to look. I watched over his shoulder as the van pulled to a stop between two police cars.
    “Can you make them go away?” I asked softly.
    He turned back toward me and shrugged.
    “I can keep them off the property, but I can’t stop them from doing a report.”
    Heart pounding, I considered the situation in full as I watched a sharply dressed woman hop out of the passenger seat of the van. She was their on-air reporter, no doubt.
    “Is there a problem?” Detective Hernandez asked me, sounding vaguely suspicious.
    Summoning my nerve, I turned my attention from the scene outside to the man in front of me.
    “I’m a former…celebrity,” I said, using the term loosely. “You know how embarrassing it can be when someone who was, um, famous in their youth gets caught on the news as an adult. Especially living in this ramshackle old house…” Glancing over his shoulder, I spotted the driver opening the back of the van and pulling out camera equipment.
    “I knew it!” the detective replied softly, grinning as he searched my face. “I knew you looked familiar. Who were you? I mean,
are
you? Who are you? You were on some sitcom, right?”
    “I went by a different name back then,” I answered truthfully.
    “Let’s see. If you were just a kid… What was it.
The Facts of Life
?
Growing Pains
?”
    “Please, help me out, okay? Right now the last thing I need is to be on the TV news.”
    “
Mork and Mindy
?
The Cosby Show
?
Doogie Howser
?”
    “Please?”
    He seemed to consider my request, and then he finally snapped his notebook closed.
    “No problem,” he told me. “I think we’re done here anyway.”
    To my vast relief, he took charge, stepping outside to steer the news crew to the back porch. As they went, he came inside and rounded up his men, who also seemed ready to go.
    “I’ll tell the news crew to get out of here once they’re done filming the old guys,” he said, handing me his business card. “Call me if you think of anything else related to this case.”
    “Will do. Can you thank the Colonel and his friends for me? Tell them I’m too distraught to come outside and thank them myself just now.”
    “No problem.”
    I waited as he gathered his things and then walked him to the front door, thanking him again for everything.
    “Just doing our job, ma’am,” he winked, but as he stepped outside, he gave it one more try. “
One Day at a Time
?
Family Ties
?
Gimme a Break
?”
    “Yeah, give me a break,” I echoed, closing the door behind him before he could realize it was a request, not the answer to his question.
    With the door locked and bolted, I headed upstairs to change into a shirt and slacks. I